Not directly related to the book, but a question I’ve been thinking about lately is: If I don’t feel any desire to raise children and I believe it would have a strongly negative impact on my quality of life, are there any reasons why I should still consider doing so? Either moral reasons or self-interested ones (ie. the possibility that I’m wrong about the net utility to me). Another factor is that it’s quite likely that I could end up in a long-term relationship with a (female) partner that does want children, and refusing could either result in the end of the relationship or a decrease in the partner’s life satisfaction.
BadAstronaut
Karma: 9
I also think there must be some kind of psychological issue behind my lack of interest in children. For instance I have an infant nephew that I see regularly and people ask me if I want to hold him, play with him etc. The answer is no (although sometimes I do it anyway). The strange thing is if I was around a puppy I would want to hold it and play with it—this doesn’t seem right. Shouldn’t I be adapted to find the young of my own species more loveable than any other?